On the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration

- South Korean government must resume dialogue between the North and the South for peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula at the expense of any cost and sacrifice.

The NCCK have been making every effort with prayer for peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula including "Declaration of the Churches of Korea on National Reunification and Peace" in 1988. It has also believed and supported that various dialogues, agreements and common projects on the level of government authorities and civil groups would be contributing to national reconciliation and cooperation, settlement of peace system and achievement of common prosperity.

Peace on the Korean peninsula should not be given up even in any difficult circumstance and a goal for all the people to achieve. On the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration by the South-North Summit Talks, however, we cannot but seriously worry about today's situation in which peace on the Korean peninsula that has been well processed is seriously threatened by the possibility of local armed clashes on west sea as well as of large scale military battle. Recently high ranked authorities of respective countries to Korean peninsula are mentioning of inescapability of war and even raising from Japan of necessity of preemptive attack to North Korea.

We have expected in the beginning of Lee government that there would be practical developments on peace and reunification process on the Korean peninsula, even though there would be some differences from previous governments in relation to their policy toward North Korea. Having started with the terms of "Denuclearization, Openness and U$3,000", Lee Myung-bak government has ignored the spirit of June 15(2000) and October 4th(2006) joint agreements by North and South Summits, and we now are facing with stringent confrontational aspects due to the loss of mutual trust, slander to the other, and brokenness of dialogue which lead to the ineffectiveness of given agreements and to military confrontation.

Recently the Six Party talks for denuclearization on the Korean peninsula has lost its meaning of existence due to the rejection to participate by North Korea because of breaking of the principle of "action for action" and there has not been any hopeful progress in the relation of North Korea and the US. Meanwhile there have been missile launching and two times of nuclear tests by North Korea, and they have brought to raise the possibility of military punishment while discussing of various sanctions

In this moment which approaches to the 9th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration, we explicitly express our point of view that the Lee government should not misuse the North-South relationship as an internal political use, not hold fast to his stringent policy toward North Korea and not bring Korean peninsula into war confrontation through blocking and isolating North Korea, and we urge as follows:

Firstly, we firmly declare that the North and South relationship should be resolved through their peaceful and diplomatic efforts by authorities of respective countries even in any worsening situation. We urge Lee government to take its initiative and to make its every effort to resolve the problem in diplomatic strategy with surrounding countries like the U.S, Japan, China and Russia in order to prevent local crashes or war possibility on the Korean peninsula.

Secondly, Lee government should take North and South dialogue as the foremost task at the expense of any cost and sacrifice. This national matter should necessarily be solved through direct dialogue and cooperation by authorities of the North and the South rather than through international foreign diplomacy. In this sense, we urge Lee government even now to succeed to the content and spirit of the June 15 and the October 4th agreements declared by the Summits of two Koreas and to declare it publicly. And on this basis, it should make its every effort for direct dialogue with North Korean authority with patience.

Thirdly, we urge Lee government to take necessary measurement for smooth progress of economic cooperation business including tourism to Mt. Keumkang and Kaesung Industrial complex as well as various exchanges and cooperation on the level of civil groups including religious organizations which are now in difficult situation. We especially expect that the government promptly resumes humanitarian assistance through various, direct and indirect channels to people in North Korea, especially for children and pregnant women who are suffering with severe food shortage.

We reassure that peace and reunification is our mission mandate which God entrusts churches in Korea to do and we will continue our prayer for this. And we also hope that Lee government will investigate and accept the above demands and build peace system firmly on the basis of dialogue, mutual trust and cooperation between the two Koreas which leads to mutual development.

June 11, 2009

Rev. Kwon Oh-Sung, General Secretary Rev. Chun Byung-Ho, Chairperson of Unification Committee The National Council of Churches in Korea

Dear Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon: May the grace of God giving life to all creation be always with you as you work with deep commitment for justice and peace for all people in the global community.

The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK), which has always prayed and worked for peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula, is deeply concerned about the current situation on the Korean peninsula as the tension and confrontation is drastically escalating. We strongly urge the international community to multilaterally cooperate to overcome this critical situation; otherwise the conflict on the Korean Peninsula can trigger an arms race throughout Asia and eventually threaten the peace and security of the global community.

At the present time North Korea continues to initiate such provocative actions as rocket-launching, nuclear testing, and missile-launching. In addition, the stiff backlash of the international community against these actions is extensively escalating the political and military tension over the whole North-East Asia region. We, as people committed to building a world opposed to war and committed to peace, are seriously concerned about this situation of conflict on the Korean Peninsula and urgently request that the United Nations take an active role for peace in the world as well as in the Korean peninsula.

1. We look forward to the active mediation of the UN for peace on the Korean peninsula.

We cannot conceal our anxiety about more strict and comprehensive sanction-centered policies as the international community reacts to the second nuclear test with an uncompromising attitude. Last April the UN Security Council issued a presidential statement against the rocket-launch of North Korea, and the UN, in response to the second nuclear test, is currently discussing the possibility of freezing the financial accounts of North Korea, strengthening the search of vessels for illegal weapons and expanding the list of items of contraband weapons. Until now, the sanctions against North Korea have not yielded any positive result, but, rather, have only escalated the conflict and thus endangered peace and security in the international community. On the other hand, the diplomatic efforts of the international community respecting North Korea as a partner in dialogue and initiating conversation with North Korea have had more effective results.

2. North Korea wants negotiation with the USA.

North Korea has conducted nuclear tests in spite of the strong opposition of the international community. The nuclear power of North Korea will exacerbate the worldwide military confrontation, stimulating Iran and India to conduct nuclear tests and paving the way to the re-armament of Japan. Nevertheless the international community should pay close attention to the message behind North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear strategy. North Korea, which experienced terrible ruination in the Korean War, is afraid of another war against the USA. The nuclear strategy of North Korea aims to maintain its internal unity to sustain the existence of North Korean society. We interpret this strategy of North Korea not as military confrontation but as a political gesture to normalize diplomatic relations with USA. Therefore we urge the UN to encourage the US Obama administration to respond to the gesture of North Korea in peaceful ways and to reflect this response in the US policy toward North Korea.

3. We urge the international community to positively initiative and participate in humanitarian aid to North Korea.

The sanctions against North Korea are driving the people of North Korea into suffering and death. According to the World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2009 North Korean grain production will decrease by 500,000 to 1,000,000 tons less than in 2008 due to insufficient fertilizer and natural disasters. The food aid to North Korea from South Korea and international society is cut off or reduced, while North Korea needs 1,780,000 tons of food aid from outside. Under these circumstances, children and elderly people in North Korea are the most vulnerable, suffering from the severe shortage of food. Therefore, we urge that the international community consolidate its efforts to recover the relationship between North Korea and South Korea, and between North Korea and the USA, and to take a positive initiative in providing humanitarian aid of food, medical supplies, and energy to the people of North Korea.

The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) sincerely prays that the spirit and words of the June 15, 2000 North-South Korea Declaration and October 4, 2007 North-South Korea Declaration will be actualized in accordance with the scripture of Isaiah 2:4, “They will beat their swords into plowshares.” We also pray that the UN, as a stronghold of world peace, can fulfill its mission to peacefully resolve international disputes, strongly believing that you, as UN Secretary-General, will take a critical role of mediator on the pilgrimage to peace.